The Virgin Mary with the Infant Christ, St Elizabeth and St John the Baptist

The Virgin Mary with the Infant Christ, St Elizabeth and St John the Baptist is an oil painting on canvas created in 1650 in the Netherlands, depicting the Virgin Mary with the infant Christ, St Elizabeth, and St John the Baptist. The work was commissioned within the artistic milieu of the Dutch Golden Age and subsequently entered the collection of Pyotr Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky, a noted Russian patron, before being acquired by the Hermitage Museum. Its provenance traces a clear chain of ownership from the artist’s workshop to Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky and finally to the Hermitage, where it remains on display.

The painting measures 160 cm by 138 cm and is catalogued in the Hermitage’s records as part of the Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky collection.

The painting’s creation history is tied to Jacob Adriaensz Backer’s active period in Amsterdam, where he produced religious works for private devotion. Documentation from the Hermitage indicates that the piece was painted for an unknown patron, likely a member of the Dutch bourgeoisie, and later entered the Russian imperial collection through Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky’s acquisition in the late 19th century.

The painting is held in the collection of the State Hermitage Museum, accessioned under Pyotr Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky’s bequest.

It has been exhibited as part of the Hermitage’s holdings of Dutch Golden Age works, although specific loan itineraries are not detailed in the cited sources.

The painting’s composition and devotional focus helped shape 17th‑century Dutch religious imagery, influencing later artists who emphasized intimate family groups within sacred narratives. Its display in the Hermitage Museum made it a reference point for scholars studying Baroque devotional art, and reproductions in exhibition catalogues reinforced its role in shaping the visual language of saintly intercessors.

Around 1650, Dutch painter Jacob Adriaensz Backer produced an oil composition that brings together the Virgin Mary with the infant Christ, Saint Elizabeth, and the youthful Saint John the Baptist. The work is part of the State Hermitage Museum’s holdings and exemplifies the artist’s engagement with religious narratives during the mid‑17th‑century Dutch Golden Age.

Backer’s oeuvre includes religious, mythological, and portrait subjects, and his style shows the influence of artists such as Wybrand de Geest, Peter Paul Rubens, and Abraham Bloemaert. This work illustrates his synthesis of Flemish dynamism and Dutch restraint, situating it within the period’s evolving approaches to devotional imagery.